Montgomery County Announces First Commercial PACE Project Application and Groundbreaking

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Montgomery County is proud to announce the first accepted application into the County’s Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) financing program. The project at the Shady Grove Professional Building and the adjacent Comfort Inn Shady Grove in Gaithersburg, Maryland, owned by Rock Grove Associates LTD Partnership, is the first C-PACE project recognized in the State of Maryland.

In March 2015, Montgomery County established a C-PACE program to assist qualifying commercial property owners to achieve energy savings with innovative financing. With C-PACE, commercial, multifamily, industrial, and nonprofit building owners can finance energy efficiency and renewable energy upgrades to their properties.

 “With our first C-PACE project underway, Montgomery County continues to be at the forefront of improving energy efficiency in the state,” said County Executive Ike Leggett. “Making energy improvements easier to finance and implement will improve our building stock and attract new businesses while reducing the County’s carbon footprint.”

C-PACE financing can cover up to 100% of project costs and is repaid as a long-term surcharge on the property tax bill. This type of financing allows Montgomery County building owners to make clean energy upgrades and improve their property’s value without the upfront capital costs.

The Shady Grove Professional Building and Comfort Inn Shady Grove project includes energy-efficient HVAC upgrades, boiler replacements, LED light installations, and building envelope improvements. Project construction is currently underway and is expected to be complete by December 2016.

“We are fortunate to have worked with Recurrent and Greenworks Lending to be the first C-PACE efficiency project in Montgomery County and the state of Maryland. This project allows us to materially improve our buildings comfort for our guests and office employees, upgrade the equipment to be more energy efficient, and significantly reduce our carbon footprint,” remarked Bob Eisinger, Managing Member of ProMark Real Estate Services, LLC, and Agent of Rock Grove Associates LTD Partnership.

When finished, this project is expected to save more than 1,600 million Btu of energy—enough energy to power 35 homes for a year. When considering all of the energy upgrades combined, this project has a payback period of less than 10 years and is expected to reduce the buildings’ operating costs by approximately $140,000 each year.

Montgomery County’s C-PACE program has become a model for the rest of the state. Not only can building owners improve performance and reduce operation costs for their buildings, but C-PACE helps the County meet its ambitious goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.

“The beauty of this program is that it costs nothing to the County while providing for real improvements that will reduce demand from our electricity grid and increase the use of renewable energy. An owner of a commercial property – from a car wash facility to a large office building – can secure a cost-effective way of improving their building and our environment,” said Councilmember Roger Berliner, chair of the Montgomery County Council Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment Committee and lead sponsor on Bill 11-13, which directed the County to develop a PACE program.

Recurrent, LLC, a Rockville-based building energy contractor, worked with Rock Grove Associates LTD Partnership to identify the upgrades and is responsible for managing and completing the project. Through a competitive process, the County selected PACE Financial Servicing to administer the C-PACE program and Greenworks Lending as the County’s designated lender in November 2015.

The County’s C-PACE program is jointly managed by the Department of Finance and Department of Environmental Protection. Visit our website to learn more about the C-PACE program in Montgomery County (http://www.mc-pace.com/).

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Release ID: 16-439
Media Contact: Judy Stiles 240-777-6507